Piloting this year, the event saw the library partner with Health Connections and the Repair Cafe in order to bring together an array of donated clothes, items and accessories for families to select and up-cycle to their preferences.
A few dozen families attended over the morning, some of them mums seeking inspiration for the annual dress-up event.
‘World Book Day is an annual event, and we know that it’s sometimes hard for families to be buying new costumes every year,’ said Guille-Alles’ children and young people’s collections lead Tiff Woosley, who helped to arrange the event.
‘The sustainability issue is also really important. It’s great that people have access to so many different costumes online and in stores, but when they can use donated stuff to make their costumes it also gives them a more sustainable and affordable option.’
At the event itself, parents and children were given access to a variety of donated items supplied by Health Connections’ charity shop, as well as the help of volunteers from the Repair Cafe – a project from the Clean Earth Trust focused on promoting sustainable consumption by giving renewed life to broken or worn-out goods instead of throwing them out. The available resources resulted in a wide variety of creative costumes, from folkloric get-ups to pop-culture inspired ensembles.
‘I’ve seen all sorts this morning,’ said Miss Woosley.
‘I’d say a particular favourite so far was a fairy mechanic costume. They’re all so creative.’
The costume-creating fashionistas themselves seemed to be equally enthralled by their opportunity for creativity – among them five-year-old Lottie Hernandez, whose exceptional acquisition of one particularly glittery skirt had inspired her to fashion a Taylor Swift costume for herself.
‘I think it’s been good,’ she said of her morning at the event, naming her triumphant skirt-claiming as the highlight.
Her mother Leslie Mourant was similarly enthused about the event.
‘I think it can really help bring inspiration to parents,’ she said.
‘Plus, with the cost pressures involved with buying costumes every year, it’s really great for parents to be able to come somewhere where there are unlimited ideas that aren’t costing you.’
World Book Day falls on Thursday 5 March this year, with the 2026 theme being ‘Go All In’, encouraging children to embrace reading about their pre-existing passions and interests. The theme is oriented towards getting more people reading by ‘bringing reading to where culture is’ – part of a year-long effort for the National Year of Reading 2026.
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